It would be very helpful if you could post a drawing of the space with dimensions.

OK I couldn't find a house plan with our bathroom dimension! :( Weird enough, the floor plan that we have from the appraisal before, the bathroom area is kinda like an empty space. So I just drew a very simple plan without detailed dimension for now. Yes I'm that bad in drawing... just hope you get a rough pic of what the bathroom looks like. btw, that bathtub/ shower combo is a standard size one.

So the "red line" you see in the bath/ toilet area is where I'm thinking I can put in one door instead of two. But then, as you can see, we need to create a "pass through hallway" so that we can access to that door from both of the rooms (sorry the "plan" is not according to proportion, it looks to me the "pass through" won't be big enough if I put it one door). Also there may not be enough leg room for the toilet. I don't know if it's possible. My handy friend said it might work if the walls there are not load bearing so we can steal some space from the closet of the master bedroom?

Again, thanks for reading!

This post was edited by luvofbeauty75 on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 21:40

It's best to start with a definition of the problem you're trying to solve. The only thing you complain about above is the 2 doors to the toilet/tub area. Is that it?

The other question is what type of budget are we talking about? If you've got the funds for a major remodel, then you should look at floorplan changes. Which, for us to help, we need a bigger floorplan showing where the bedrooms and halls are.

If your budget is modest, precluding any floorplan changes, then you probably need to stick to updating the fixtures and flooring, and perhaps put in some pocket doors.

BTW, your diagonal door is unlikely to leave enough room between the sinks for a decent passage. Plus it would seem a little weird to me to have the 2 sink areas connected with a hallway.

My last home had a master bath just like your photo except my shower and stool were reversed and the stool was on the same wall as the vanity and you could barely see the front of it sticking out, so it was more private. I loved it and I would not want any more doors. As a matter of fact we removed the door you see going to the shower and stool room. At night you could walk right into the edge of it. We thought it was perfect. There was no door on the entry to the bathroom either so it was all open. Also the closet doors were sliders. I took the locking door knobs off the bathroom door and put it on the bedroom door. That way if we had company we could shower in privacy and so could our guests if they wanted to use the shower.

Thanks for all your replies!

weedyacres,

Yes my main problem is closing the 2 doors when walking into the bathroom made me feel claustrophobic. I mean I can deal with small bathrooms (I've always had small bathrooms with no problems whatsoever) but somehow this 2-door situation just doesn't seem right to me. Also I never feel safe when using the bathroom thinking someone might walk in (esp. when there're guests there even they are not upstairs!) I can never relax in that bathroom :(

And other that that, yes the fixtures in that bathroom are old (except the toilet is newer) so I would like to change that, esp. the severely scratched bathtub, cultured marble countertops and sinks.

And yes, I know the diagonal door seems a bit weird and definitely we need to lose some closet space to achieve that. But I really have no other clue to 100% solve the door situation (other than dividing the bathroom into 2).

About the budget, we are not having a lot of money to create a luxurious bathroom, probably under 15k is the best. But now my husband is leaning towards a more basic remodel to avoid all the trouble...

EmmaR,

It's good to know someone had a similar experience! So yours was a master bath jack & jill too? I just wonder how it'll work out esp. when you have guests/ other family members. But seems to me your layout is a little better. You know after yet MORE thinking after my previous post, I'm now leaning towards maybe just changing the bathtub, counters, sinks, closet doors, flooring BUT more importantly, to use FROSTED GLASS DOORS instead of 2 regular doors to the bath/ toilet area! I hope this can help with my claustrophopic & privacy issue! I think I'll feel better when I think someone "knows" I'm in the bathroom somehow..., and letting more light in behind that 2 doors should help?

Nevertheless, I also want to install a pocket door or something like that where the bedroom leads to the vanity area... I know... more doors :(... but that is again to solve the privacy and noise ( i will be waken up even when someone's washing hands at the sink) issue to the bedroom...

So what do you all think about this idea? Is this better than changing anything structural to the bathroom?

Also another minor question, any brand of bathtubs is better than the other? I'm not really looking for anything luxurious... any standard size tub that is easier to clean is good! :)

Again thanks for reading!

There is no problem with privacy if you put a lock on the bedroom door. I just used the one that was on the bathroom door. We had emergency company one time and they used the shower in our master bathroom and I told them to lock the bedroom door. No problem.

The bathroom originally had a short vanity and a single closet on the right side. We did away with the closet and put in a double vanity with one sink and 2 banks of drawers which I really, really liked.